Current Estimates of Cochlear Implant Utilization in the United States

Abstract

Objective: To present key data from a private marketing report that characterizes U.S. cochlear implant (CI) utilization, potential CI candidate and recipient population sizes, and CI market growth.

Patients: Individuals who may benefit from CI and CI recipients in the United States.

Interventions: Cochlear implantation.

Main outcome measures: CI utilization, potential CI candidate and recipient population sizes, and CI market size and value.

Results: As of 2015, a cumulative 170,252 people (240,056 devices) had undergone cochlear implantation in the United States. In the year 2015, approximately 30% of devices were implanted in bilateral CI patients, through simultaneous or sequential implantation. When considering traditional audiometric CI candidacy criteria (patients with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss in the better hearing ear), utilization rates among the population who may benefit from CI approximated 12.7%. When considering expanded criteria including individuals with single-sided deafness or asymmetrical hearing loss (severe to profound hearing loss in the worse hearing ear), utilization rates approximated 2.1%. In 2015, there was a net increase of 20,093 individuals who may have benefited from CI who had not undergone CI, adding to the group of about 1.3 M untreated audiometric CI candidates who existed prior to that year. The CI market was valued at $450.8 M in 2015, with an average device selling price of $25,701 per device.

Conclusions: CI utilization rates remain low among individuals who meet audiometric criteria for CI. Although the annual proportion of CI recipients to new audiometric candidates has increased, the total population of untreated audiometric CI candidates continues to rise.